West's Annotated California Codes Currentness. Penal Code. Part 1. Of Crimes and Punishments.
Title 14. Malicious Mischief. § 597.1. Failure to care for animals; misdemeanor; powers and
duties of local officers and veterinarians; hearings; liability for costs; forfeiture; operative
effect

Summary: Every owner, driver, or keeper of any animal who permits the animal to be in any
building, enclosure, lane, street, square, or lot of any city, county, city and county, or
judicial district without proper care and attention is guilty of a misdemeanor. The statutes
also creates a duty in peace officers, humane society officers, and animal control officers to
cause the animal to be killed or rehabilitated and placed in a suitable home on information that
the animal is stray or abandoned.

Statute in Full:
(a) Every owner, driver, or keeper of any animal who permits the animal to be in any building,
enclosure, lane, street, square, or lot of any city, county, city and county, or judicial
district without proper care and attention is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any peace officer, humane
society officer, or animal control officer shall take possession of the stray or abandoned
animal and shall provide care and treatment for the animal until the animal is deemed to be in
suitable condition to be returned to the owner. When the officer has reasonable grounds to
believe that very prompt action is required to protect the health or safety of the animal or the
health or safety of others, the officer shall immediately seize the animal and comply with
subdivision (f). In all other cases, the officer shall comply with the provisions of subdivision
(g). The cost of caring for and treating any animal properly seized under this subdivision shall
constitute a lien on the animal and the animal shall not be returned to its owner until the
charges are paid, if the seizure is upheld pursuant to this section.

(b) Every sick, disabled, infirm, or crippled animal, except a dog or cat, that is abandoned in
any city, county, city and county, or judicial district may be killed by the officer if, after a
reasonable search, no owner of the animal can be found. It shall be the duty of all peace
officers, humane society officers, and animal control officers to cause the animal to be killed
or rehabilitated and placed in a suitable home on information that the animal is stray or
abandoned. The officer may likewise take charge of any animal, including a dog or cat, that by
reason of lameness, sickness, feebleness, or neglect, is unfit for the labor it is performing,
or that in any other manner is being cruelly treated, and provide care and treatment for the
animal until it is deemed to be in a suitable condition to be returned to the owner. When the
officer has reasonable grounds to believe that very prompt action is required to protect the
health or safety of an animal or the health or safety of others, the officer shall immediately
seize the animal and comply with subdivision (f). In all other cases, the officer shall comply
with subdivision (g). The cost of caring for and treating any animal properly seized under this
subdivision shall constitute a lien on the animal and the animal shall not be returned to its
owner until the charges are paid.

(c) Any peace officer, humane society officer, or animal control officer shall convey all
injured cats and dogs found without their owners in a public place directly to a veterinarian
known by the officer to be a veterinarian who ordinarily treats dogs and cats for a
determination of whether the animal shall be immediately and humanely destroyed or shall be
hospitalized under proper care and given emergency treatment. If the owner does not redeem the
animal within the locally prescribed waiting period, the veterinarian may personally perform
euthanasia on the animal. If the animal is treated and recovers from its injuries, the
veterinarian may keep the animal for purposes of adoption, provided the responsible animal
control agency has first been contacted and has refused to take possession of the animal.
Whenever any animal is transferred to a veterinarian in a clinic, such as an emergency clinic
that is not in continuous operation, the veterinarian may, in turn, transfer the animal to an
appropriate facility. If the veterinarian determines that the animal shall be hospitalized under
proper care and given emergency treatment, the costs of any services that are provided pending
the owner's inquiry to the responsible agency, department, or society shall be paid from the dog
license fees, fines, and fees for impounding dogs in the city, county, or city and county in
which the animal was licensed or, if the animal is unlicensed, shall be paid by the jurisdiction
in which the animal was found, subject to the provision that this cost be repaid by the animal's
owner. The cost of caring for and treating any animal seized under this subdivision shall
constitute a lien on the animal and the animal shall not be returned to the owner until the
charges are paid. No veterinarian shall be criminally or civilly liable for any decision that he
or she makes or for services that he or she provides pursuant to this subdivision.

(d) An animal control agency that takes possession of an animal pursuant to subdivision (c)
shall keep records of the whereabouts of the animal from the time of possession to the end of
the animal's impoundment, and those records shall be available for inspection by the public upon
request for three years after the date the animal's impoundment ended.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any peace officer, humane society
officer, or any animal control officer may, with the approval of his or her immediate superior,
humanely destroy any stray or abandoned animal in the field in any case where the animal is too
severely injured to move or where a veterinarian is not available and it would be more humane to
dispose of the animal.

(f) Whenever an officer authorized under this section seizes or impounds an animal based on a
reasonable belief that prompt action is required to protect the health or safety of the animal
or the health or safety of others, the officer shall, prior to the commencement of any criminal
proceedings authorized by this section, provide the owner or keeper of the animal, if known or
ascertainable after reasonable investigation, with the opportunity for a postseizure hearing to
determine the validity of the seizure or impoundment, or both. (1) The agency shall cause a
notice to be affixed to a conspicuous place where the animal was situated or personally deliver
a notice of the seizure or impoundment, or both, to the owner or keeper within 48 hours,
excluding weekends and holidays. The notice shall include all of the following: (A) The name,
business address, and telephone number of the officer providing the notice. (B) A description of
the animal seized, including any identification upon the animal. © The authority and purpose
for the seizure, or impoundment, including the time, place, and circumstances under which the
animal was seized. (D) A statement that, in order to receive a postseizure hearing, the owner or
person authorized to keep the animal, or his or her agent, shall request the hearing by signing
and returning an enclosed declaration of ownership or right to keep the animal to the agency
providing the notice within 10 days, including weekends and holidays, of the date of the notice.
The declaration may be returned by personal delivery or mail. (E) A statement that the cost of
caring for and treating any animal properly seized under this section is a lien on the animal
and that the animal shall not be returned to the owner until the charges are paid, and that
failure to request or to attend a scheduled hearing shall result in liability for this cost. (2)
The postseizure hearing shall be conducted within 48 hours of the request, excluding weekends
and holidays. The seizing agency may authorize its own officer or employee to conduct the
hearing if the hearing officer is not the same person who directed the seizure or impoundment of
the animal and is not junior in rank to that person. The agency may utilize the services of a
hearing officer from outside the agency for the purposes of complying with this section. (3)
Failure of the owner or keeper, or of his or her agent, to request or to attend a scheduled
hearing shall result in a forfeiture of any right to a postseizure hearing or right to challenge
his or her liability for costs incurred. (4) The agency, department, or society employing the
person who directed the seizure shall be responsible for the costs incurred for caring and
treating the animal, if it is determined in the postseizure hearing that the seizing officer did
not have reasonable grounds to believe very prompt action, including seizure of the animal, was
required to protect the health or safety of the animal or the health or safety of others. If it
is determined the seizure was justified, the owner or keeper shall be personally liable to the
seizing agency for the cost of the seizure and care of the animal, the charges for the seizure
and care of the animal shall be a lien on the animal, and the animal shall not be returned to
its owner until the charges are paid and the seizing agency or hearing officer has determined
that the animal is physically fit or the owner demonstrates to the seizing agency's or the
hearing officer's satisfaction that the owner can and will provide the necessary care.

(g) Where the need for immediate seizure is not present and prior to the commencement of any
criminal proceedings authorized by this section, the agency shall provide the owner or keeper of
the animal, if known or ascertainable after reasonable investigation, with the opportunity for a
hearing prior to any seizure or impoundment of the animal. The owner shall produce the animal at
the time of the hearing unless, prior to the hearing, the owner has made arrangements with the
agency to view the animal upon request of the agency, or unless the owner can provide
verification that the animal was humanely destroyed. Any person who willfully fails to produce
the animal or provide the verification is guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine of not
less than two hundred fifty dollars ($ 250) nor more than one thousand dollars ($ 1,000). (1)
The agency shall cause a notice to be affixed to a conspicuous place where the animal was
situated or personally deliver a notice stating the grounds for believing the animal should be
seized under subdivision (a) or (b). The notice shall include all of the following: (A) The
name, business address, and telephone number of the officer providing the notice. (B) A
description of the animal to be seized, including any identification upon the animal. © The
authority and purpose for the possible seizure or impoundment. (D) A statement that, in order to
receive a hearing prior to any seizure, theowner or person authorized to keep the animal, or his
or her agent, shall request the hearing by signing and returning the enclosed declaration of
ownership or right to keep the animal to the officer providing the notice within two days,
excluding weekends and holidays, of the date of the notice. (E) A statement that the cost of
caring for and treating any animal properly seized under this section is a lien on the animal,
that any animal seized shall not be returned to the owner until the charges are paid, and that
failure to request or to attend a scheduled hearing shall result in a conclusive determination
that the animal may properly be seized and that the owner shall be liable for the charges. (2)
The preseizure hearing shall be conducted within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays,
after receipt of the request. The seizing agency may authorize its own officer or employee to
conduct the hearing if the hearing officer is not the same person who requests the seizure or
impoundment of the animal and is not junior in rank to that person. The agency may utilize the
services of a hearing officer from outside the agency for the purposes of complying with this
section. (3) Failure of the owner or keeper, or his or her agent, to request or to attend a
scheduled hearing shall result in a forfeiture of any right to a preseizure hearing or right to
challenge his or her liability for costs incurred pursuant to this section. (4) The hearing
officer, after the hearing, may affirm or deny the owner's or keeper's right to custody of the
animal and, if reasonable grounds are established, may order the seizure or impoundment of the
animal for care and treatment.

(h) If any animal is properly seized under this section, the owner or keeper shall be
personally liable to the seizing agency for the cost of the seizure and care of the animal.
Furthermore, if the charges for the seizure or impoundment and any other charges permitted under
this section are not paid within 14 days of the seizure, or, if the owner, within 14 days of
notice of availability of the animal to be returned, fails to pay charges permitted under this
section and take possession of the animal, the animal shall be deemed to have been abandoned and
may be disposed of by the impounding officer.

(i) If the animal requires veterinary care and the humane society or public agency is not
assured, within 14 days of the seizure of the animal, that the owner will provide the necessary
care, the animal shall not be returned to its owner and shall be deemed to have been abandoned
and may be disposed of by the impounding officer. A veterinarian may humanely destroy an
impounded animal without regard to the prescribed holding period when it has been determined
that the animal has incurred severe injuries or is incurably crippled. A veterinarian also may
immediately humanely destroy an impounded animal afflicted with a serious contagious disease
unless the owner or his or her agent immediately authorizes treatment of the animal by a
veterinarian at the expense of the owner or agent.

(j) No animal properly seized under this section shall be returned to its owner until, in the
determination of the seizing agency or hearing officer, the animal is physically fit or the
owner can demonstrate to the seizing agency's or hearing officer's satisfaction that the owner
can and will provide the necessary care.

(k) Upon the conviction of a person charged with a violation of this section, or Section 597 or
597a, all animals lawfully seized and impounded with respect to the violation shall be adjudged
by the court to be forfeited and shall thereupon be transferred to the impounding officer or
appropriate public entity for proper adoption or other disposition. A person convicted of a
violation of this section shall be personally liable to the seizing agency for all costs of
impoundment from the time of seizure to the time of proper disposition. Upon conviction, the
court shall order the convicted person to make payment to the appropriate public entity for the
costs incurred in the housing, care, feeding, and treatment of the seized or impounded animals.
Each person convicted in connection with a particular animal may be held jointly and severally
liable for restitution for that particular animal. The payment shall be in addition to any other
fine or sentence ordered by the court. The court may also order, as a condition of probation,
that the convicted person be prohibited from owning, possessing, caring for, or having any
contact with, animals of any kind and require the convicted person to immediately deliver all
animals in his or her possession to a designated public entity for adoption or other lawful
disposition or provide proof to the court that the person no longer has possession, care, or
control of any animals. In the event of the acquittal or final discharge without conviction of
the arrested person, the court shall, on demand, direct the release of seized or impounded
animals upon a showing of proof of ownership. Any questions regarding ownership shall be
determined in a separate hearing by the court where the criminal case was finally adjudicated
and the court shall hear testimony from any persons who may assist the court in determining
ownership of the animal. If the owner is determined to be unknown or the owner is prohibited or
unable to retain possession of the animals for any reason, the court shall order the animals to
be released to the appropriate public entity for adoption or other lawful disposition. This
section is not intended to cause the release of any animal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish,
seized or impounded pursuant to any other statute, ordinance, or municipal regulation. This
section shall not prohibit the seizure or impoundment of animals as evidence as provided for
under any other provision of law.

(l) It shall be the duty of all peace officers, humane society officers, and animal control
officers to use all currently acceptable methods of identification, both electronic and
otherwise, to determine the lawful owner or caretaker of any seized or impounded animal. It
shall also be their duty to make reasonable efforts to notify the owner or caretaker of the
whereabouts of the animal and any procedures available for the lawful recovery of the animal
and, upon the owner's and caretaker's initiation of recovery procedures, retain custody of the
animal for a reasonable period of time to allow for completion of the recovery process. Efforts
to locate or contact the owner or caretaker and communications with persons claiming to be the
owner or caretaker shall be recorded and maintained and be made available for public
inspection.

CREDIT(S)

(Added by Stats.1991, c. 4 (A.B.35), § 1, eff. Dec. 13, 1990, operative Jan. 1, 1991. Amended
by Stats.1998, c. 752 (S.B.1785), § 19.)